TIME MACHINE: AC MILAN v CAGLIARI

Our Serie A 2025/26 campaign comes to a close with a home fixture against Cagliari at San Siro. It’s a matchup that has previously been played on the final day of the season - in 2010/11 - closing off another chapter for the Rossoneri and the Sardinian Rossoblù. In the final Time Machine of the season, we revisit a previous meeting which, unlike this one, marked a beginning: our first home match of the 2021/22 league campaign.

It was a special first home match. After the opening-day win in Marassi against Sampdoria, the evening was AC Milan’s first reunion with their home fans after many months of closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions. It was a late-August night made even more memorable by the way the match unfolded against Semplici's side. Pioli’s team sparkled in a dominating first half: after creating several chances in the opening ten minutes, AC Milan took the lead in the 12th minute through a superb free kick from the edge of the area by Sandro Tonali - his first goal for the Rossoneri. Cagliari responded almost immediately through Deiola, but within seven minutes AC Milan struck twice more: Leão found the net in the 17th minute and Giroud added another in the 24th, the French striker also celebrating his first goal for the club.

The first half ended with yet another Rossoneri celebration, the fourth of the evening: Strootman's handball blocked a long-range effort from Díaz, resulting in a penalty. Giroud stepped up to the spot and calmly beat Radunović to make it a remarkable 4-1 in the 43rd minute. San Siro was in full celebration, and the scoreline stayed that way. AC Milan managed the second half with authority, albeit at a noticeably slower tempo. The final whistle confirmed the Rossoneri’s first home victory of the campaign - the opening step on the road to the club’s 19th Scudetto.

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